Andrew is going blind. He's middle aged, married, with a son, and one day he will be blind. It started when he was a teenager himself (well, probably sooner but that's when he noticed it). And he's gotten to a point where life is getting more difficult and he thinks he needs to learn some accommodations and also accept his future. He starts joining organizations for the blind (and giving us their histories) and going to meetings. He also begins to learn Braille and learns how to walk using a cane. Along the way we get a history of these different options, what alternatives there are, how they are accepted or not, how sighted people react to these and help (or hinder) blind people they encounter, and also how Andrew is dealing with all of this emotionally.
One of the most difficult experiences Andrew deals with is, after having accepted long ago that his sight would deteriorate slowly, and then suddenly, and he's been waiting for the precipitous drop, is learning that information was wrong and it will continue along the slow path. So after he's accepted his fate as a soon-to-be blind person, he's told nope, you're going to be at least slightly sighted for quite some time. That's a strange thing that ought to be good but also is bad. It has taken a lot out of him emotionally to come to terms what he thought was his immediate fate, and to have the timeline dramatically change, requires another resetting of expectations and future planning.
I enjoyed most the chapter where he goes to an institute and has to wear a blindfold and truly operate as if he's completely sightless for a few days (most people go for several weeks). The final exam is preparing and serving a meal, which does seem like a suitably super difficult challenge (one I struggle with immensely, as a sighted person!) I loved learning about the history, and thinking about how I would deal with some of the difficulties and challenges that are everyday life for Andrew and other blind people every day. Of particular note is how many inventions, such as ironically audiobooks, as I was listening to this on audio, came about either by a blind inventor, or for the blind. Necessity is the mother of invention after all.
I listened to this audiobook for free through my local library, using the Libby app.
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